U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,599, issued Jul. 16, 1968 and assigned to the assignee of this invention, describes an energy-absorbing steering column for a motor vehicle including a tubular mast jacket which collapses longitudinally through an energy-absorbing stroke in response to an impact on a manual steering wheel on the steering column. An upper or outboard connection between the mast jacket and a body of the motor vehicle includes an outboard mounting bracket on the mast jacket having a pair of lateral flanges, a pair of open slots in the lateral flanges, a pair of capsules slidably mounted in the slots and rigidly clamped to the vehicle body, and a plurality of injection molded plastic pins which couple the capsules to the lateral flanges of the outboard mounting bracket. Force attributable to the impact on the steering wheel is initially reacted to the vehicle body through the plastic pins which fracture when such impact force attains a magnitude determined by physical characteristics of the plastic pins, e.g., dimensions and material strength. When the plastic pins fracture, the capsules are uncoupled from the lateral flanges of the outboard mounting bracket, and the latter is released from the vehicle body for linear translation as a unit with the mast jacket. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,795,038 and 3,868,864, issued Mar. 5, 1974 and Mar. 4, 1975 and assigned to the assignee of this invention, describe energy-absorbing steering columns having similar outboard connections in which the capsules are releasably retained on the outboard mounting bracket by, respectively, tangs on the bracket bent behind the capsules and by tangs on the capsules bent into notches in the bracket. U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,427, issued Jul. 24, 1973 and assigned to the assignee of this invention, describes an energy-absorbing steering column having a similar outboard connection in which the capsules are releasably retained on the outboard mounting bracket by friction between the bracket and the capsules.